Sterling rallies above 1.3 against dollar in American trade

Sterling rose against the dollar to the highest since August 11, rebounding for the seventh session out of nine from the lowest since June 27, following earlier data from Britain and the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 04:48 GMT, GBP/USD rose 0.63% to 1.3013 from the opening of 1.2931, with a four-week high at 1.3032, and a session-low at 1.2909. 

Earlier UK data showed the services PMI for August down to 53.2 from 53.8 in July, missing expectations of 53.5. 

Otherwise from the US, Federal Reserve member Lael Brainard spoke about the economic outlook and monetary policy at the Economic Club of New York, where she mentioned the appropriateness of tightening the policy and increasing interest rates in a more gradual pace than thought before, pointing to some signals of dangerous asset bubbles.  

Bernard said Fed policymakers are ready to start trimming down the balance sheet, adding that recent weakness in prices could weigh on inflation overall, while warning from raising overnight interest rates anew, especially as inflation continues to soften for longer periods of time. 

On the same note, earlier data showed US factory orders tumbling 3.3% in July, the largest such decline in three years, as markets now await Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari's speech about business leadership at the University of Minnesota, and Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan' speech about national and global economic issues at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.